Coaching practices for Shikantaza Just Sitting on a Budget
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Shikantaza Just Sitting on a Budget, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I’m tired of techniques and counting and focusing on something
- Even in meditation I’m secretly grading myself, chasing some better state, treating sitting as a means to an end
- On the cushion I can find that open, present quality, but the instant I stand up it evaporates
- I’m comfortable following the breath, but the moment I’m told to drop the anchor and just be present with nothing to hold onto, I either spin off into thinking or go blank
- Sitting alone, every single day becomes a negotiation over whether to skip it, and my practice keeps collapsing
Practices that may help
- Shikantaza: Just Sitting
Shikantaza ("just this sitting") is the central meditation practice of Soto Zen, formulated by Dogen Zenji (1200–1253). It is objectless, open-awareness meditation: you sit with alert presence, not focusing on any particular object and not trying to achieve any state. Dogen taught that shikantaza is not a means to enlightenment but the expression of it — sitting is itself the practice. Benefits overlap with studied open-monitoring meditation, though shikantaza’s specific claims are experiential rather than clinically validated. - Shikantaza (just sitting)
Sit in open, objectless awareness — not focusing on anything, not following anything.
Zen Practice (Zazen and Beyond) - Shikantaza — "just sitting" in the Soto Zen tradition
Sit with complete presence and nothing to achieve — no goal, no technique, no observer separate from sitting.
Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical - Extending shikantaza to daily activity
Bring the same non-grasping, present awareness from formal sitting into ordinary tasks.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Releasing the object: sitting without a focal point
Let go of fixing attention on the breath, a mantra, or any other anchor — simply be present.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Practicing with a sangha (community sitting)
Sit with others regularly — group practice stabilizes individual practice in ways solitude cannot.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Silent illumination: the quality of awake stillness
Cultivate a stillness that is lit from inside — quiet and alert, not blank and dull.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Grounding in posture: zazen as the foundation
Let the body be upright, stable, and settled before everything else.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Non-grasping awareness: letting arise and pass
Watch thoughts, sensations, and emotions arise and dissolve without grabbing or pushing.
Shikantaza: Just Sitting - Designate one category as zero for a month
Choose one spending category and put nothing in its envelope for one month — the absence of a budget makes the behavior, not the amount, visible.
The Envelope System, Made Practical
Related concerns
- How To Practice Shikantaza
Shikantaza ("just this sitting") is the central meditation practice of Soto Zen, formulated by Dogen Zenji (1200–1253). It is objectless, open-awareness meditation: you sit with alert presence, not focusing on any particular object and not trying to achieve any state. Dogen taught that shikantaza is not a means to enlightenment but the expression of it — sitting is itself the practice. Benefits overlap with studied open-monitoring meditation, though shikantaza’s specific claims are experiential rather than clinically validated.
- How To Sit Shikantaza
Let the body be upright, stable, and settled before everything else.
Grounding in posture: zazen as the foundation
- Shikantaza Just Sitting
Shikantaza ("just this sitting") is the central meditation practice of Soto Zen, formulated by Dogen Zenji (1200–1253). It is objectless, open-awareness meditation: you sit with alert presence, not focusing on any particular object and not trying to achieve any state. Dogen taught that shikantaza is not a means to enlightenment but the expression of it — sitting is itself the practice. Benefits overlap with studied open-monitoring meditation, though shikantaza’s specific claims are experiential rather than clinically validated.
- Shikantaza Just Sitting After A Loss
Cultivate a stillness that is lit from inside — quiet and alert, not blank and dull.
Silent illumination: the quality of awake stillness
- Shikantaza Just Sitting After A Setback
Watch thoughts, sensations, and emotions arise and dissolve without grabbing or pushing.
Non-grasping awareness: letting arise and pass
- Shikantaza Just Sitting As A Caregiver
Shikantaza ("just this sitting") is the central meditation practice of Soto Zen, formulated by Dogen Zenji (1200–1253). It is objectless, open-awareness meditation: you sit with alert presence, not focusing on any particular object and not trying to achieve any state. Dogen taught that shikantaza is not a means to enlightenment but the expression of it — sitting is itself the practice. Benefits overlap with studied open-monitoring meditation, though shikantaza’s specific claims are experiential rather than clinically validated.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.